Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal Skyline’s Salote Tafuna, left, knocks down a jumper over a Los Medanos defender during the Trojans’ 63-47 non-conference win Wednesday night in San Bruno.

Luckily for the Trojans, Laura and Katie Zasly and Danielle Simon, possess some pretty serious talent. The Zasly twins scored 10 points each, Salote Tafuna had 10 and Simon added eight in host Skyline’s 63-47 win over Los Medanos on Wednesday. The Trojans (10-2) were playing the Mustangs (3-9) for the second time in four days, having beaten them by virtually the identical score (64-47) Sunday in the championship game of the Merritt tournament.

Perhaps that’s a reason why the Trojans were flat for a good portion of the rematch, knowing all they had to do was turn it on and they could overwhelm Los Medanos with superior talent.

“You come into the game with a certain notion after seeing them,” said Simon, who had a great overall game with eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. “I wouldn’t say it was overconfidence but you can’t get rid of it (impression you have of a team after a blowout win).”

Skyline actually got off to a fast start, taking an 18-7 lead on a Kezia Nelson putback with 13:30 left in the first half. But shortly thereafter the Trojans went into a lull, and the Mustangs went on a 17-6 run to cut their deficit to 26-24 with 1:10 left until halftime. Simon’s jumper from the left elbow area with 45 seconds to go marked the Trojans’ first field goal in nearly six minutes.

Skyline started the second half on a 6-0 spurt, capped by an 8-foot jumper from Tafuna. The play started when Simon blocked a Los Medanos shot. She retrieved the ball and dribbled all the way to the free throw line before spotting an open Tafuna on the baseline. Up by 11, the Trojans looked as if they were finally going to do what they were supposed to do much earlier in the game — bury an inferior team.

It didn’t happen. Not right away at least. To their credit, the Mustangs came back strong and got to within seven points, 37-30, with 16:33 remaining. But Skyline finally said enough was enough, using strong defense to create some turnovers that led to a couple of uncontested layups as part of a 20-5 run to blow things open. Jennifer Matawaran scored six of her 10 points during the decisive surge.

The Trojans shot only 37 percent (27-for-73) from the floor, but they didn’t have to be lights-out because they attempted 15 more shots due to a decisive advantage on the boards. Skyline grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to the Mustangs’ six. Even though the Trojans are off to a nice start, Trojans coach Trisha Hosley knows that Coast Conference North Division play will be the ultimate litmus test to see just how far her squad has come.

The Coast North is consistently one of the best leagues in the state, and if Skyline can do well in that area it will get a strong seed later in the playoffs. One thing is for certain: The Trojans can’t suffer a lapse in concentration if they expect to beat some of the top teams in conference.

“Sometimes we get lazy, and in this game we knew we had to wake up in the second half and play harder,” Hosley said. “I told the girls we have to respect Los Medanos because it’s not like they were going to let us win. Once our defense got going, it was like a chain reaction and it created offense ... (Overall) this season I like the way the girls are playing. We still have some things to work on, but the Merritt tournament was big for us. We took three huge steps forward (in our development and chemistry). It will be interesting to see what happens once we get in conference play.”

Skyline is off to a great start because of a bit of serendipity. The Zasly twins came aboard after playing two years of college soccer at Division I program Marist in New York. But after their soccer coach reneged on a promise to allow them to play basketball in their junior year, they transferred out and came to Skyline so they didn’t have to sit out a season to play basketball.

Shortly after arriving back in the Bay Area, the Zaslys saw Simon at a party and the next thing you know Simon is coming out for the team. Quite ironic considering the three used to engage in some big-time battles when the Zaslys were at Aragon and Simon was at Mills a few years back.

That’s when the Dons and Vikings were at their absolute best, and they went back and forth battling it out every year for the Peninsula Athletic League Central Division and San Mateo County titles. The fact they’re all playing on the same team benefits the Trojans greatly.

Simon is playing her first year of organized basketball since her senior year (2004-05 season). She spent two years at USF and a year at CSM — she intended on playing for the latter but ended up working full time — before coming aboard to Skyline.

“It’s great that I’m playing with them instead of against them,” Simon said, referring to the Zaslys. “We had a lot of great games together in high school, but off the court we talked and they were nice, except when they lost (laughs). Junior college basketball is harder than I expected, but we’re coming along and I think this team can do some good things.”